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Sergio, Spanish Academy Parent

For parent Sergio, learning Spanish at the Academy has provided his son with the confidence to speak the language and the sense that he can go anywhere and be who he wants to be, in that language.

“My name is Sergio Troncoso, or if you know Spanish, Sergio Troncoso. And my son Aaron this summer did a stint at Vermont learning Spanish, improving in Spanish. We knew Middlebury was a great program, but when we came out he was confident and that I think was surprising to both my wife and I. That his confidence level was wonderful and it thrilled him that he could use it in a way that he couldn't use it before.

“My parents call on the phone every week, and I always talk to them in Spanish. After Aaron came back from Middlebury, he said he wanted to talk to my parents, and he started speaking Spanish with them. This was first time that he volunteered to talk to them in Spanish on the phone. So I could see that his Spanish really took a big leap forward during Middlebury.

“I think it's important for my son and for our entire family to be multilingual because it opens up new cultures. It allows you to explore other people and how they live. It gives them a sense of I can go anywhere and be who I want to be, be the smart kid I want to be, in that language.

“Spanish became something he can now use as he wants rather than something difficult or a subject. It's a subject when you don't get it. When you get it and you can manipulate it and you can make it sing, it becomes something joyous.”